what's in your wallet?

I made a goal this week to not spend more than what is in my wallet: $21. until next monday, I have to get by on my $21. there are several reasons for this goal:

1. I am terrible at keeping a budget. this is strange because I'm a very organized and responsible person. I like order. I like arranging things. I like recording and planning things and listing things and crossing those things off those lists. I balance my checkbook religiously. I keep receipts. I pay all my bills on time. and yet, I cannot for the life of me, plan out and stick to a budget each month. a few times I've even gone so far as to record every expense with descriptions for a previous month in an attempt to better understand the mystery of my constantly decreasing bank account balance. I realize this is way more tedious than just writing out a simple budget. but I always think it will shock me into budgeting better once I see how much money I'm wasting rather than saving. actually, the writing out a budget isn't so much the problem. I have used those overly detailed recordings of my expenses to create ambitious budgets for the following months. and most months I do jot down on scrap paper a quick list of my major expenses to compare to my bank account balance so I can be sure I have enough money to cover everything. this is really as far as I ever get with any sort of regular budget keeping. the real problem lies with creating a budget and then completely ignoring it. this goal is sort of a baby step towards maintaining a proposed budget.
2. not so long ago I could easily get by on $21 for a week. I had to. I was a poor student. I could probably last 2 weeks on $21. why shouldn't I still be able to do that? why does an increased income equal increased expenses?
3. it's a short-term goal. I'm not saying that 2008 is the year of frugality. let's be reasonable. if I can't stick to a monthly budget, a year-long goal is not the solution. one week. I can keep a budget for one week. actually, 8 days. monday to monday.
4. it forces me to actually eat and use what I have. so yes, maybe that meant I went to work this morning with a lunch of graham crackers, saltine crackers, a mushy apple and a packet of instant oatmeal, but still, I didn't starve. tonight I actually made myself dinner-a pasta-cheesy-veggie-bake-thing. and now I have leftovers for a better lunch tomorrow.
5. maybe if I do well this week, I can try it again in the future. and maybe someday I'll be able to do this on a larger scale. and maybe someday that will even result in my actually saving a portion of my money. and maybe someday that will mean I will actually have some sort of financial security.
   

now I did establish some parameters for this $21 week goal:

1. gas and bridge tolls do not come out of this $21. I would never make it a week otherwise.
2. I can use gift cards for purchases. the goal isn't to not spend more than $21. the goal is to not spend more than $21 of my money. gift cards were bought with someone else's money. free for me.
3. I can get my oil changed on saturday. I'm so long overdue. that of course, will also not be covered under the $21.
   

so, okay, perhaps I'm not sticking to a $21 budget in the strictest sense, but I still feel that it's a budget of sorts. it's making me plan out how I'm going to make this money last until monday. it's making me choose between things I need to buy and things I want to buy. the general idea is there. I'm comfortable calling it a $21 budget. and right now I still have $18 left!!